SWITZERLAND v ENGLAND
Football : International : Euro 2012 Qualifying
Tuesday, September 7th, 2010, 7:45pm GMT

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland look the 2nd best team in a group made of 2 decent teams, and a bunch of also rans. That's the fact. The Swiss recently produced the shock of the World Cup in beating the No. 1 ranked country in the world, and eventual winners, Spain. And it came from producing a masterclass in defensive football, although I'm not sure they will be able to duplicate this again, seeing as they're a bit short with their players.

Ottmar Hitzfeld, who believe it or not, used to be (no, not a Nazi) a Bayern Munich manager who won the Champions League, is the man in charge of the neutral side, and other than that win over Spain, his side have been a bit, well, meh.

It's all about the defence, but now they miss Senderos and Eggimann so that is weakened. Also Banaglio, the keeper is about to become a new dad so may or may not play. But where will his head be? Hakan Yakin is also missing this game and the midfield will miss him.

The offence is a weak point here. Once a team that scored regularly, almost always through the once clinical Alexander Frei, they have now managed just 3 in their last 7 matches. Not good enough, and they will be tested here by the solid England keeper who has everyone feeling just that little bit more confident.

ENGLAND

So, who saw that last result coming, eh? I didn't. Not at half time anyway. England opened their Euro campaign with a 4-0 tonking of the visiting Bulgarians, with Defoe the hattrick hero. They have a lot to make up for, after failing to get to the last tournament in Switzerland (and Austria)

The big news is that Michael Dawson is out injured, and will miss at least 2 months of action. Gary Cahill, who came on as a sub on Friday, replaces him. Spurs Defoe also picked up a knock when slamming in his 3rd, and if he can shake that off, he will partner Rooney up front.

Rooney has been in the news recently, for behaving like pretty much all the other married big name, big money England players. Big whoop. If he scores, he'll have gotten his mind around his problems, if he doesn't, well, then that's all he was thinking about and it's affected him. You know the drill the tabloids have.

Walcott will be in the side, and after being dropped for the World Cup in South Africa, he has been showing some fine form for Arsenal, leading to a return to the national side. Expect his pace to play a part in any big moves made by the team in Red and White. The cross? England, silly! Oh.

BETTING VERDICT

Expect a much tighter game, with England having to work much, much harder away from home against a disciplined Swiss side. If the win does come, as expected, it won't be by a landslide.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

Under 2.5 goals

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Under 2.5 goals at 1.75 (Pinnacle) - MAIN BET

Consider England win to nil at 3.00 (Bet365) - Since price of straight win is 1.83 and not great value